Analyzing Ardent Health Partners (NYSE:ARDT) and SunLink Health Systems (NYSE:SSY)

Ardent Health Partners (NYSE:ARDT) and SunLink Health Systems (NYSE:SSY) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Ardent Health Partners and SunLink Health Systems, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ardent Health Partners	0	2	8	2	3.00
SunLink Health Systems	0	0	0	0	0.00

Ardent Health Partners currently has a consensus target price of $21.64, suggesting a potential upside of 23.35%. Given Ardent Health Partners’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Ardent Health Partners is more favorable than SunLink Health Systems.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

23.7% of SunLink Health Systems shares are held by institutional investors. 27.9% of SunLink Health Systems shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ardent Health Partners and SunLink Health Systems”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ardent Health Partners	$5.41 billion	0.46	$53.90 million	N/A	N/A
SunLink Health Systems	$32.44 million	0.17	-$1.53 million	($0.22)	-3.61

Ardent Health Partners has higher revenue and earnings than SunLink Health Systems.

Profitability

This table compares Ardent Health Partners and SunLink Health Systems’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ardent Health Partners	N/A	N/A	N/A
SunLink Health Systems	-4.71%	-16.31%	-11.96%

Summary

Ardent Health Partners beats SunLink Health Systems on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ardent Health Partners

Ardent Health Partners, Inc. owns and operates a network of hospitals and clinics that provides a range of healthcare services in the United States. It operates acute care hospitals, including rehabilitation hospitals and surgical hospitals. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Ardent Health Partners, Inc. is a subsidiary of EGI-AM Investments, L.L.C.

About SunLink Health Systems

SunLink Health Systems, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides healthcare products and services in the southeastern United States. It operates in two segments, Healthcare Services and Pharmacy. The Healthcare Services segment owns and operates a 49-licensed-bed acute care hospital, which includes a 26-bed geriatric psychiatry unit; two clinics; and a 66-bed extended care and rehabilitation centre. This segment also provides information technology services; and owns five acers unimproved lands. The Pharmacy segment offers institutional pharmacy services consisting of provision of specialty and non-specialty pharmaceutical and biological products, such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, behavioural and specialty hospitals, hospices, and correctional facilities; non-institutional pharmacy services, including private residences; and durable medical equipment products and services, including the sale and rental of products for institutional clients or to patients in institutional settings and patient-administered home care, as well as retails pharmacy products and services. SunLink Health Systems, Inc. was incorporated in 1959 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.